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This is a great overview of Landing Page best practices complete with examples. You'll find a lot in common with our Chemstry of the Landing Page presentation. Headlines and Ad Copy Clear and Concise Headlines Impeccable Grammar Trust indicators Call to Action Buttons Lose the Links Visuals (images) Above the Fold Always be testing

You may believe us, but does your boss?

As you know we believe that dedicated landing pages are one of the most powerful ways to increase revenue and leads online. It would be best to have a special landing page for each offer you make in an ad, email or on your site.

But who has time to build all of those pages??

If you knew that more landing pages meant more money, you might be able to get your boss to give you more resources.

This post from Hubspot may have the data you need.

Landing pages are a key strategy for monetizing your investment in pay-per-click ads. Here's some evidence of the importance of having landing pages with text that Google can read.

While our landing pages are for humans, we must remember that Googlebot is a visitor as well.

The question to ask on a landing page is, "Will WOW increase my conversions?" Some of these "WOW" features have proven to reduce conversion rates.  Rotating banners of any sort attract the eye away, and can pull readers out of the "meat" of the page where they are more likely to convert. Accordian menus and tabbed content may prevent scanners from quickly consuming the page. It's a bit of a Catch 22: they may not have the patience to click on each item until they've scanned the content... which is hidden. Social widgets can deliver social proof and increase conversion rates. However, social media chicklets that let the visitor go off to Facebook or Twitter work against the purpose of a landing page: to keep visitors on the page until they make a decision. Why send traffic that you've paid for off to Mark Zuckerberg? Lightbox popovers are universally derided if you ask people. However, they almost always increase conversion rates. 

Every audience is different, so test these WOW features with your own crowd.

The folks at ConversionVoodoo give us two simple questions we should ask before creating a landing page. The "elephant in the room" here is that one landing page probably isn't going to work, as different people respond to different ads, and thus need a different landing page. What you know about them will make all the difference in your conversion rates.

 @unbounce

I hesitated to share this article with you because the landing pages here are so very different. I take a more conservative approach to landing pages.

However, Oli Gardner does a great job of pointing out what works and doesn't work for these pages, so it is a great learning opportunity.

 @b2bmarketing via @huffpostbiz John Fox gets landing pages and is bringing the tale of this important online strategy to the masses who read the Huffington Post. Much of the article was based on an interview with yours truly.

There are two defining characteristics of a landing page: It must keep the promise made by the link or ad that brings people to the page It is single-mindedly focused on getting them to take an action that will help them or the business Fox goes on the talk about trust, proof and images as keys to effective landing pages. He also talks about eliminating distractions and avenues for abandonment.

Thanks for a great article, John.

This is a short little ditty from @ioninteractive that makes an important point about Landing Pages that is very easy to forget. Landing pages have a single-minded purpose or they are something else.

While Kickstarter isn't a typical landing page, this Kickstarter project does a great job of using video in a persuasive way, and including a call to action tied into the page.

If you're using video on your landing pages, you should point to or reference the form on the page in the video.

 @PeepLaja I love the unconventional, and Peep Laja of ConversionXL has assembled a great list of creative landing pages and strategies.

If this doesn't get you excited about your next landing page, I don't know what will.

The lesson of this landing page case study is "Less is more to a point." This supports the lessons of my Backward Landing Pages post and column.

 @ashocka18 has written an article for designers working on landing pages. In the process Heidi has linked to some very helpful posts.

I was struck by the way she laid out the article, perfect for those of us who scan. Your landing pages should be designed to help scanners find the salient points of your copy... like where the link to my post is.

I especially love the banner images for each topic. Very fun. Boring Call to Action Button Lame Logos Inconsistency Too many fonts Random colors Spacing fails Cheesy stock photos (I call this "Business Porn") Overuse of photoshop effects Icons from everywhere Readability issues Navigation Check it out.

We just can't get enough info on landing pages. We love them.

This article helps you design landing pages for three kinds of visitors: Cold visitors (no they don't live up north) Warm visitors (not necessarily friendly) Hot visitors (don't necessarily got it goin' on) How do you address these different visitors? Read on.

The keys to good landing pages is helping the visitor to decide what to do and what is important. Color and shape are two ways to announce visually what matters. I love this selection of tools (though I hate MS Paint). Even a marketer that is mocking up pages can use these tools to emphasize what is important for a designer. New tools for the conversion lab.

I'll say it again: If your SEM company isn't INSISTING on helping you with landing pages; if they are satisfied to pick any page on your site as a destination for your expensive PPC marketing; then you are being taken to the cleaners.

Most of what you need to know is right here in this article. Contact me if you still have questions. 

 @unbounce Landing pages really are simple. This "recipe" covers all of the bases for a sweet treat (for you and your visitors).

 @KISSmetrics offers a fantastic tour of landing page best practices. They offer 50 points with an example for each from businesses that have been successful on the Web. From seductive headlines, to creative copy to building trust to design, you will be inspired for your next landing page development task. 

Designers, THIS is your job on a landing page, not creating "engaging Web experiences."

If you learn visually, this will teach you much about landing pages.

 @peeplaja "People have an infinite attention span if you are entertaining them."

I get a lot of questions about sales letter styled landing pages. Do they work? Do I need to write that much?

My stock answer is that they do work, but that your copywriter needs to know what they are doing. These kind of landing pages typically work with visitors that already know and follow your business.

Peep says it best: "Buyers are readers." There is more wisdom in this entertaining post.